My History in Cycling.

In 1982 I sold all of my cars, bought a FUGI ESpree tourer and
went back to college. Probably not all that odd except where I
went to school there was not a lot to do on the weekends. The
small 2-year school, Lousiburg College, in North Carolina, was a
suit-case college. What that means is everyone went back home to
Raleigh, NC to party on the weekends. I did not. Instead I
would go out onto the nice county roads and ride. After a while 3
others joined me on some of the jaunts and I was hooked. I never
got deep into the racing aspects and continued to be a daily
commuter/tourer for many years. The 1991-1993 years I spent off
of the bike because I was living in an area that didn't have too many
roads for riding. Mostly highways cutting through a small town in
Iowa. Of course there was Ragbri but that was only once during
the year.

When I moved back to Florida I found several cyclist in the
area and started riding again, but now more for sport than for
commuting. I still don't subscribe to the racing stuff, though I
follow it with my friends and such. I rode an old (1982) FUJI Espriee
12-speed road bike until November 1997 when the front wheel broke and
threw me on my face for 29 stitches and a cracked cheek bone.
That was when I decided it was time to get a new *NICE* road
bike.

I now own a 1997 Litespeed Catalyst upgraded to Dura-Ace-9
speed components. Unlike the FUGI, I now keep the components more
current. It is running Chris-King headset, Easton EC-70 fork, TTT
bars, ITM stem, egg-beater pedals and Topolino wheels. I add
Profile-Split-Z aero-bars and a profile Aqua bottle kit when I do my
long distance rides (130 to 185 miles).

Juliet is now hooked and after getting her on the tandem she
now rides a mountain bike to work and her Trek 2200 on the
weekends. We still take the tandem on the big trips (see the
TourdeFrance link) but she is really really digging riding a bike, any
bike...

Mt Dora 2003

I rode from Ft Lauderdale to Mt Dora in two days, 266
miles. This pic is after two additional days at the bicycle
festival. I just completed the Yahala Bakery (yum yum) ride.

Our First TANDEM

was a 1993 21 speed Schwinn DUO-SPORT Tandem. It's not
a slick as a SANTANA or a CO MOTION but I got it new for only $850
which is a steal for a tandem. My wife and I rode it about 60
miles per week and while she was not an avid cyclist, our team speed is
increasing and we are able to sustain a 22mph average on the open
road. We put 5600 miles on this tandem before buying our current
tandem, a 1999 Burley Duet. In the first 18 months of riding the
Burley we racked up 3200 miles! For more exploits go to the
psycho-biker web site...

The DUO-SPORT as it climbs the deceptively flat Card Sound Bridge on one of our
yearly trips from Miami to Key West.

The Key West trip is an
annual trip with the Motorola Bicycle League of Plantation FL.
Here is a link to the Non-Motorola site that has lots of info about the
Tour De Conch

Heading to Key West April 2000

This was the last year we owned the DUO-SPORT. That didn't
slow us down though. I was always impressed that this old Schwinn
could keep up with the paceline pack-rats! We were crusin' at
33mph when this pic was taken.

Before we sold it we managed to get 5800 miles on the
bike. It was a fine old ride.

Our First Serious Road Trip

In Sept 1998 we completed a week of road riding in the
Asheville/Nhatahala areas of North Carolina. This was really cool
and a test of our "FLATLANDER" legs on some real hills! We
managed nearly 100 miles (we got some hiking and white water rafting in
as well) and we must admit that the NC locals can whup us on hill
climbing! The pictures are:

Rides on the Burley:

The North Carolina Bumble Bee Ride

Riding around Pensacola Fla

Bike Virginia 2001

Naples ride 2003
Ron Chopkic and I rode 163 miles from our respective homes to
Vanderbilt beach. Here is the route we took...Vanderbilt Beach route

Mt Dora 2003

I was dubbed the ROAD WARRIOR by a friend, Greg Raven,
who took this picture when I finished the Battle of Buckhill on the end
of my epic Mt Dora weekend. It was epic because I rode from Ft
Lauderdale to Mt Dora in two days, 165 miles on day one, 101 miles on
day two, then I did the Esmeralda, Bakery ride and Battle of Buckhill
(50miles, 57 miles, 60 miles).

Space Coast Century 2003

I didn't do so well on the century because I started late,
went to fast to catch the front group and then rode too close to the
front (too many pulls). And the fact that I rode from Ft
Lauderdale to Cocoa Beach in ONE DAY (185 miles) the day before the
century probably didn't help either.